Tag: Writing

Posted on in Miscellaneous

Commonplace Blog

This post is part of a series of everyday posts for Blaugust. If you’d like to know more, click here.

I forget why I arrived at the Wikipedia entry for “Commonplace book”. I think it had something to do with a potential character name I was researching*. However it happened, I am glad I did because this is a new idea to me, despite having some very well-known authors listed. It also perfectly captures what this blog is slowly becoming throughout this year’s Blaugust event.

When I started blogging, my focus was on videogames and MMORPGs more specifically. Over time, I drifted away from that focus, but I still have this idea in my head that in order to capture a target audience I need to focus my content.

That’s probably true, but as I have said before, that’s not really why I am writing any of this.  And not that I needed the justification of a pre-established literary genre I had not heard of but I feel renewed and reinvigorated to share things with you in bits and pieces, as I go, and often as I think of them now that I know “this is a thing”.

Henceforth, this is now my “commonplace blog” with a little journaling mixed in as needed and reviews whenever I feel the need.

Let’s see how I write when I don’t limit myself to 800+ words at a time …

* I remembered at the very end of writing the above how I came to the idea of Commonplace books. I was researching French names for a Nightborne character in World of Warcraft and started reading about Montaigne, the Frenchman who popularized the essay.

Posted on in Miscellaneous

Blog On

This post is part of a series of everyday posts for Blaugust. If you’d like to know more, click here.

When I started my first blog years ago, I had dream of it being a launching point to a future career or a then-current identity. I thought if I had the chops to write great posts that everything would fall into place – views, fame, money, etc.

Thankfully, the silliness of that dream quickly wore off. I will not blame a lack of talent. I enjoy my writing and that is all that matters to me. I may still one day write a book and become famous.  Maybe I won’t. The important thing that I learned rather quickly – and the reason I am still blogging today – isn’t my stats or how beloved on Twitter I am.

It is much simpler: I enjoy writing and this is enough.

I could lie to you and say that just liking what you write and doing it a lot will get you famous. It won’t. Blogging, as a medium and similar to MMOs, is no longer the cool new fad. It isn’t a Wild West for you to stake a claim and get rich. For that, I recommend Twitch or YouTube but we are all probably too far behind there too.

Like anything else in life, if you want it to be more than a hobby, then you need to treat it as more than a hobby. You have to market yourself and be creative. You need to be ahead of the curve whenever possible.

I didn’t mind busting my ass when I did try to maintain this as a paid hobby, but with more adult responsibilities and a more steady job, the free time to build something on the blogosphere dried up.

But I enjoy writing and so I am still here. Maybe I should get back to the creative writing instead though … But that takes outlines and proofreading and rereading and reworking! This is enough.

Maybe I will write a book but not today. My fingers have to type out something other than procedures, rules, and policies for my job, else they go mad. For now, this is enough.

There’s no secret wisdom to this post or even a deeper meaning to end up at. I recommend only one thing if you are restarting your blog or striking out for the first time: enjoy writing first. If you enjoy it and it shows, then you will find at least a few online friends who frequently comment or retweet you. It may not be millions, thousands, or even hundreds, but so what?

This is probably enough.